HOSPITAL SYSTEMS are alerting their patients that they will resume COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday, less than three weeks after they were cut off by the Baker administration.
Massachusetts General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey notified patients Wednesday morning that they will be able to resume “limited appointments” for vaccinations on Monday. Spokespersons for the two health systems said they haven’t been told how many vaccines they will receive and it was unclear how the vaccine recipients will be selected. A message to patients from Mass General Brigham said eligible individuals would be invited to participate “based on a fair, random process.”
Following the announcement by the hospital systems, the Baker administration released a statement saying Massachusetts General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey will provide vaccinations to their patients, while 13 other hospitals will receive vaccinations as long as they offer inoculations to anyone who is eligible to receive one.
The resumption of vaccinations at hospitals is another twist in the rollout process. Hospitals led the way initially, in part because many of their employees were the first to receive the shots. The Baker administration on February 11 dropped hospitals from the distribution network along with a number of other providers in order to steer more vaccine to high-volume mass vaccination sites and regional vaccination collaboratives.
That move away from hospital systems is now being reversed, at least somewhat. Hospital systems have heralded their distribution networks as a convenient way to reach those eligible for the shots. The hospitals can identify who among their patients is eligible and make it convenient for them to book an appointment without having to navigate a series of websites.
The individual hospitals expected to start receiving vaccine Monday include Lawrence General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Milford Regional Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, Umass Medical Center, Marlborough Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital, Harrington Hospital, Bay State Medical Center, Health Alliance, Heywood Hospital, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and Nantucket Cottage Hospital.